Malala on her quest for education: “I can’t forget them”

Malala on her quest for education: “I can’t forget them”

Malala Yousafzai has pleaded with governments to provide $1.4 billion for the education of Syrian refugees.

Malala on her quest for education: “I can’t forget them”

On Thursday Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai will speak to world leaders at a conference in London.

Malala will seek to inspire heads of state and government bodies to boost the education of Syrian refugee children with a $1.4 billion grant.

Her speech will be heard at the “Supporting Syria and the region” conference which aims to raise funds and garner support for the humanitarian crisis surrounding the war in Syria.

The call to action comes after a report issued by the Malala Fund found that some 700,000 Syrian children living in refugee camps throughout Jordan, Lebanon and other Middle Eastern countries, had no access to education.

“I have met so many Syrian refugee children, they are still in my mind. I can’t forget them. The thought that they won’t be able to go to school in their whole life is completely shocking and I cannot accept it,” Malala told Reuters.

“We can still help them, we can still protect them. They are not lost yet. They need schools. They need books. They need teachers. This is the way we can protect the future of Syria.”

Malala will appear at the conference alongside 17-year-old Muzoon Almellehan, a Syrian schoolgirl who has taken up the cause together with Malala after the pair were introduced in 2014, at the Zaatari refugee camp.

“She is the one that I want people to listen to. Her story is so powerful, it’s so inspiring. She’s going to tell world leaders that these children have a right to an education and they must not ignore it,” said Malala.